How to Film a Jaguar Without Getting Eaten

In case you missed it, Planet Earth II has finally made its debut on your television. A couple episodes into the season, we found ourselves with lots of questions. Questions like, how do you put a camera right in the face of a spider monkey? Or, what happens when you’re filming and a capybara decides you’re what’s for dinner? So we asked.

Over the next few weeks, we’re sitting down with some of the people who make Planet Earth II to talk about cameras, drones, insect repellent, M&Ms, and all the other things that go into making this crazy show. Many of them have been working in these places for years or decades, finding themselves suddenly able to capture new things in new ways as technology gets better. Wasn’t that long ago you could barely get a camera on your shoulder, much less have one flying quietly through the air. For this week’s episode, “Jungles,” David Pierce chatted with director and producer Emma Napper. Turns out the jungle is a tough place to bring a bunch of really heavy, expensive camera gear, especially when a bunch of hungry caimans show up.

You can watch Planet Earth II on BBC America, Saturdays at 9pm. If you haven’t seen anything yet, you can watch the premiere free on BBC America’s website. See all of our recent Planet Earth II coverage. We’ll do this for the next few episodes, too, through the rest of the season. We still have lots of questions. If you do too,
send the hosts feedback on their personal Twitter feeds (David Pierce is @pierce, and Michael Calore is @snackfight) or bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab.